Throughout our history, developments in technology have emerged much faster than the evolution of organizational forms. Global communications have eliminated the barriers of time and place, and digital information has broken the bond between information and its physical format. Yet, most agencies and businesses are still organized for the physical limitations of the Industrial Age. They continue to rely on specialization of tasks and command and control management structures. Public policies lag farther still behind technological evolution. Only in the past few years have policy makers begun to tackle the policy implications of global telecommunications and to move beyond the policies developed when information was a matter of printed media and limited broadcasting.

The pace of technology responds to the forces of scientific inquiry and innovation. Organizational change more reflects the ability of humans to recognize and adapt to changes in their environment. This slower process is especially difficult in the public sector as it is bound by civil service systems, one-year budget cycles, and rules and procedures cast in both statute and regulation. Finally, by design, public policies change only when there is a broad consensus that change is needed and will move our nation, community, or society in a desirable direction.

The interaction of these three domains generates a very important societal debate because what is technically possible may not be organizationally feasible or socially or politically desirable. Recent court decisions about the transmission of objectionable material over the Internet are an excellent case in point. The technology has made it possible for anyone, anywhere to post adult-oriented information on the World Wide Web. Much of this material would not be readily accessible by children in most other media, but on the WWW very few limitations can be imposed that protect children but do not also infringe the rights of adults. Elected officials, interest groups, information professionals, states, and courts are all struggling with the issues this generates around free speech, protection of children, the role of the market, the applicability of existing laws, and the meaning of community standards.

Meeting the goals of the Digital Government Program requires research that spans policy, management, and technology domains. Valuable as focused investigations are, they are insufficient if they remain locked in disciplinary niches. We also need interdisciplinary approaches designed to understand the interrelationships among policy, management, and technology factors. To do this will require change in the way research is conceived, funded, and conducted, as well as changes in the way research results are disseminated and used. The following sections discuss the workshop results in terms of specific research needs, broad research challenges, and recommendations for dealing with them.